Possession planning

DESPITE a recession which saw property values tumble, recent difficulties with obtaining a mortgage and the substantial deposits now needed to buy a house it seems the majority of people in the UK have not given up on the dream of owning their own home.

A recent survey found that as many as 96 per cent of those currently renting have the ambition to own a property some day and seven out of ten of them said they would never stop trying.

The average age at which people can afford to become home owners is now 37 and the National Housing Federation warns that could reach 43 in the not too distant future.

At the same time the number of owner occupiers is now just 66 per cent, the lowest it has been since the 1980s when Margaret Thatcher declared it was her aim to create a 'property owning democracy' and introduced the Right To Buy scheme enabling council house tenants to purchase their home.

But it seems that we are unlikely to ever try to emulate our European neighbours and be content with renting the roof over our heads.

"It is part of our culture in this country," said Chris Knapton of The Mortgage Guy in Plympton.

"In the majority of cases people have grown up in a home owned by their parents and they want to own their own home as well.

"And don't forget it isn't just our parents who have instilled in us that it is good to be a home owner.

"We had a government telling us that it was a good thing to own your own home too in the 1980s.

"There will always be those who have grown up living in a rented property and will continue to live in their own rental property, but by far the majority of people want to own a house."

As well as it being part of our culture to be home owners it often makes financial sense to own property.

"The majority of people have still got it in their heads that they want to buy and I think it is partly because they see rent as dead money and owning property is an investment as well as a home," said Steve Moir of Hennings Moir of Saltash.

"People have seen the value of their parents' homes increase and they want to imitate that and perhaps make some money for their future."

There are a variety of reasons for preferring to own rather than rent your home, not least because once the mortgage is paid off there is no rent to pay and the house you own could be worth a great deal more than you initially paid for it.

That equity could provide valuable income for your retirement.

And depending on the size of your mortgage it could even prove to be cheaper each month than renting, especially in the current market where rents are at an all time high.

For most people, however, it is the independence which owning your own home provides.

The right to decorate and modify as you please, even adding value to your initial investment.

There are advantages to renting for some people, particularly those who have the type of career that necessitates frequent moves.

"There are certainly less restrictions when you want to move if you rent your home," pointed out Steve Moir.

"You can move home in a matter of weeks without having to sell your previous property.

"Moving house can cost anything up to £10,000 with legal fees, estate agents fees, stamp duty and so on, but if you rent you can move home every couple of years with hardly any expense.

"If you have the kind of job which needs you to move about renting could be the best option for that reason but I can't see the popularity of home ownership tailing off any time soon.

"We deal with a lot of rental property but virtually every tenant insists they want to buy eventually."

When assessing if you can afford to purchase your own property it is important to factor in maintenance costs of your new home as well as the mortgage.

Things like leaking roofs or faulty boilers are no longer the responsibility of your landlord and can be costly to fix.

But for the majority of people these appear to be obstacles they are willing to overcome.

"The traditional British love affair with property ownership seems as strong as ever and today's tenants are so committed to realising their dream of home ownership that most say they'll never concede defeat," said market analyst Miles Shipside of Rightmove.

The Government Help to Buy Scheme, which will extend from new homes to all property under £600,000 from January, is expected to make that dream come true for even more people.

"When the new scheme comes in next year I think it will make a huge difference and enable a lot more people to get on the housing ladder," said Steve Moir.

"There could be some pent up demand because people are waiting for that measure to come in so my advice would be not to sit on the fence and delay things.

"If you are in a position to buy now is the time to do it, don't wait around.

"That said, we have just had the busiest month in the last three years and August is traditionally a quiet month because of the holidays.

"We are seeing a lot of out of area buyers coming to this part of the world and wanting to buy a property creating a momentum.

"Mortgages are much easier to come by and that has freed things up a great deal but I also thing there is much more confidence in the market.